Keir Starmer must now seize the ‘goodwill’ generated in Washington by King Charles’s official state visit, former Ronald Reagan aide Allan Starkie has told the latest episode of the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential.
Starkie joined co-hosts Richard Eden and Richard Kay to analyse the first leg of King Charles’s landmark trip to America, including his address to a joint session of Congress, which drew a remarkable 13 standing ovations from both Democrat and Republican politicians.
The King garnered positive headlines on both sides of the Atlantic for his performance in America’s capital, most notably for his deft handling of President Donald Trump.
Keir Starmer must now seize the ‘goodwill’ generated in Washington by King Charles’s official state visit, former Ronald Reagan aide Allan Starkie has said
Starkie joined co-hosts Richard Eden and Richard Kay to analyse the first leg of King Charles’s landmark trip to America, including his address to a joint session of Congress
The King garnered positive headlines on both sides of the Atlantic for his performance in America’s capital, most notably for his deft handling of President Donald Trump
Trump cut a happy figure alongside Charles throughout the day on Tuesday, waxing lyrical about the UK in a speech delivered on the White House lawn. It marked a notable departure from the President’s recent hostility toward Britain over its failure to fully back his military campaign in Iran.
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Starkie, who served as an aide to President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s, said the King’s visit had served its purpose in patching up Anglo-American relations.
He said: ‘I think it will revive the special relationship in a big way. Now it is up to Prime Minister Starmer to take advantage of the goodwill that the King generated. It was a very positive event.’
Starkie said Charles had trodden a fine line, deploying humour while carefully acknowledging the differences between the British and American governments on key issues.
The King also drew laughs at the White House state dinner, responding to Trump’s well-known claim that without America, Europe would be speaking German. ‘Dare I say,’ Charles told the room, ‘that if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French.’
‘I don’t think anything that the King said was offensive to Trump’, Starkie observed.
‘I think his points were well taken. Even his point about Ukraine in Congress created perhaps the most voluminous standing ovation of them all.’
Starkie, who served as an aide to President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s, said the King’s visit had served its purpose in patching up Anglo-American relations
Starkie also noted that Americans feel the future of the Royal Family is in safe hands, with William and Catherine ‘respected and loved’ across the country.
He added that the Prince and Princess of Wales have been aided, in no small part, by the unfavourable impression left by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
He said: ‘William and Kate have created a sort of mix of tradition and modern thinking, particularly in raising their children, that appeals to many generations of Americans.
‘There’s been concern here about what happens to the monarchy when Charles is gone. I think it will be in good hands and most Americans will welcome that.
‘Harry and Meghan are the reverse of that. They are destructive, they are egotistical, they are bitter – that only makes his brother look better.’
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